Wampfler, Jason A.

8045 Background: Surgical resection is the primary therapy for stage I-II NSCLC but not performed in a subset of patients due to comorbidities or self-election, who instead undergo radiation with or without systemic therapy (RT±ST). Little is known about the demographic, tumoral, therapeutic, and quality-of-life (QOL) characteristics of this non-surgical group. Understanding their differences from the surgical group is essential for developing precision treatment strategies and tailored survivorship guidelines. Methods: In a prospectively enrolled (1997-2016) and followed (through 2025) cohort of 20,951 primary lung cancer patients, 6,486 (31%) had stage I-II NSCLC, including 5,359 (83%) treated surgically (Surgical) and 1,113 (17%) otherwise (Non-surgical). Preexisting diseases were grouped into cancer, lung, and other comorbidities. QOL data were available for 40% of all patients. Descriptive analysis of demographics, tumor features, treatment patterns, and QOL metrics, as well as survival analysis (median years and overall survival [OS] rates) were conducted. QOL measures, on overall and 15 symptom and functional domains, were scored 0 (worst) to 10 (best), with 1-unit difference considered clinically and statistically meaningful. Results: At time of diagnosis, compared to the Surgical, the Non-surgical patients were older (median 73 v 68 years), more likely to have smoked cigarettes (91% v 83%), squamous cell and unspecified NSCLC (53% v 28%), stage IIB (19% v 12%), and preexisting lung comorbidities (71% v 58%). Non-surgical patients more frequently received RT±ST than the Surgical (70% v 21%) and had shorter median survival (2.5 v 7.8) years. Within the Non-surgical, 28% had no cancer treatment (No-Tx), 44% RT-only, 7% ST-only, and 19% both (RT+ST); their respective median diagnosis ages were 74, 76, 68, 70 years; median survival were 1.7, 2.7, 2.2, 3.2 years; 5-year OS (95%CI) at 25% (21-31), 25% (21-29), 26% (17-38), 30% (25-37); and 10-year OS at 9% (7-14), 7% (5-10), 10% (5-21), 9% (6-14), respectively. RT-only group had highest rates of comorbidities (37-84%) and the No-Tx the lowest (31-66%). Although the overall QOL scored the same for all groups, RT-only patients reported the worst scores on multiple symptoms burden, and the No-Tx reported the least pain and lung cancer symptoms but the worst on mental well-being and social activities. Conclusions: Non-surgically managed stage I-II NSCLC cases present clinically distinct patients with the shortest median survival in No-Tx group and highest 5-year survival in RT+ST. RT-only patients were oldest, had the most comorbidities, and reported the worst symptom burdens. These differences highlight the need for more in-depth analyses and studies (considering age, histology, comorbidity, QOL, etc.) to support tailored therapeutic strategies and survivorship care for patients who decline or are not suitable for surgery.

10556 Background: The coexistence of interstitial lung diseases (ILD) and lung cancer (LC) presents a clinical challenge. ILD, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and non-IPF entities, is associated with an elevated risk of LC. However, the clinical features, treatment patterns, and survival outcomes of ILD-LC, especially IPF-LC, remain underexplored. We aimed to comprehensively evaluate survival outcomes and risk factors for mortality of ILD-LC patients based on a real-world long-term clinical cohort. Methods: A total of 1,341 eligible patients for this study were drawn from the Epidemiology and Genetics of Lung Cancer research program database (Mayo Clinic) including 96 IPF-LC, 111 Non-IPF ILD-LC, 99 ILD-only, and 1,035 propensity-matched LC-only patients (Controls). Data were collected on demographics, comorbidities, tumor features, treatment, and patient outcomes. Survival analyses used Kaplan-Meier methods; risk factors were assessed via Cox Proportional Hazards models. All comparisons reported below were statistically significant with p-values≤0.001 unless specified. Results: Among the 20,470 primary LC patients who were diagnosed from 1997 through 2016 and followed to 2021, 207 (1.0%) had ILD-LC, of which 96 (46.4%) had IPF. Comparing to Controls, ILD-LC patients were 4 years older at the time of LC diagnosis, 63.8% (vs. 52.8%) male, had a higher rate of former smokers (60.4% vs. 47.3%), a lower proportion of adenocarcinoma (37.7% vs. 57.5%), and a higher proportion of squamous cell (28.0% vs. 20.3%) and small cell carcinoma (13.5% vs. 8.4%). Although no significant differences in either LC stage or grade, ILD-LC patients had a significantly higher mortality rate (90.3% vs. 78.8%), particularly among IPF-LC patients (97.9% vs. 83.8%). ILD-LC patients were less likely to undergo surgery or receiving pharmacological treatments (73.9% vs. 93.5%). The median 5-year overall survival rate (OS, months) were 49.5 for Controls, 35.2 for Non-IPF ILD-LC patients, and 15.9 for IPF-LC patients. Analysis of six most common comorbidities revealed that pulmonary hypertension was associated with worse OS in ILD-LC patients compared to those without it (11.9% vs. 20.1%, P < 0.05); however unexpectedly, hypertension in ILD-LC patients was associated with better OS (21.3% vs. 14.4%) and emphysema in IPF-LC patients with better OS (7.9% vs. 3.4%, P < 0.05) when compared to those without the two comorbidities, respectively. Conclusions: This study highlights the poorer survival outcomes in ILD-LC patients, particularly IPF-LC patients, emphasizing the need for further investigation into optimized therapies and comorbidity management. Our findings also call for attention to two unexpected associations of hypertension and emphysema, warranting in-depth research on the possible biological and physiological mechanisms.

11118 Background: Lung cancer survivors experience more physical and mental challenges, heavier symptom burden, and poorer quality of life than survivors of other cancers. Many symptoms persist or worsen for survivors beyond 5 years of cancer diagnosis, referred as long-term lung cancer survivors (LTLCS). Social determinants of health (SDoH) factors negatively impact patient reported outcomes (PROs) among cancer survivors, but their role in outcomes is under reported in lung cancer survivors and unknown in LTLCS. We investigated the impact of SDoH on PROs in a 20-year prospective lung cancer cohort. Methods: Our cohort includes 19,251 lung cancer patients (cases) diagnosed from 1997 through 2016 and followed up to 27 years, of whom 4799 (25%) became LTLCS. SDoH information was obtained by a lung cancer study PRO questionnaire or an institution SDoH questionnaire. Analyzed in this report are 2982 cases and 480 controls who had a low-dose chest CT scan and were ruled out for cancer, all answered at least one PRO questionnaire (first response); and 1366 LTLCS answered 5 years after diagnosis (long-term response). Along with fatigue and dyspnea, 5 SDoH variables, i.e., financial concerns, legal concerns, family and friends support, spiritual well-being, and social activity were scored on a 0 (worst) - 10 (best) scale and dichotomized as 0-5 (deficit/worse/lower) or 6-10 (no deficit/better/higher). We also assessed employment and health-related work experience. A difference of 1.0 unit or more in score was considered clinically meaningful along with a 2-sided test P-value less than 0.05; Chi-square or Fisher’s Exact Test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used accordingly. Results: Compared to controls, cases were younger (mean age: 62 vs. 65 years, P<0.05); more women than men reported worse financial concerns (56% vs. 38%, P<0.01) and lower spiritual well-being (43% vs. 26%, P=0.04) at first response; this sex disparity reduced but remained significant at long-term. Worse dyspnea (4.4-4.8 vs. 5.6) and fatigue (4.7-4.8 vs. 5.8-5.9) were seen in cases with more financial and legal concerns compared to those with fewer concerns (Ps<0.01). Cases with higher family and friends support, spiritual well-being and social activity had less dyspnea (5.7-6.0 vs. 4.2-4.5) and fatigue (5.5-5.9 vs. 3.9-4.4) than those with lower scores (Ps<0.04). Employment and health-related work experience data were provided by 2213 responders: Comparing 1735 cases to 478 controls, a lower proportion of cases was employed (28% vs. 39%), more cases “often felt tired after work” (49% vs. 28%), and more cases had “quite a lot” of difficulty in daily work or could not work at all” (26% vs. 9%, Ps<0.01). Conclusions: We found that in lung cancer survivors, more women than men reported worse financial concerns, and lower SDoH status was correlated with worse dyspnea and fatigue, indicating SDoH-driven interventions are important to improve lung cancer survivors’ PROs.

AbstractBackgroundRecent therapeutic advances and screening technologies have improved survival among patients with lung cancer, who are now at high risk of developing second primary lung cancer (SPLC). Recently, an SPLC risk‐prediction model (called SPLC‐RAT) was developed and validated using data from population‐based epidemiological cohorts and clinical trials, but real‐world validation has been lacking. The predictive performance of SPLC‐RAT was evaluated in a hospital‐based cohort of lung cancer survivors.MethodsThe authors analyzed data from 8448 ever‐smoking patients diagnosed with initial primary lung cancer (IPLC) in 1997–2006 at Mayo Clinic, with each patient followed for SPLC through 2018. The predictive performance of SPLC‐RAT and further explored the potential of improving SPLC detection through risk model‐based surveillance using SPLC‐RAT versus existing clinical surveillance guidelines.ResultsOf 8448 IPLC patients, 483 (5.7%) developed SPLC over 26,470 person‐years. The application of SPLC‐RAT showed high discrimination area under the receiver operating characteristics curve: 0.81). When the cohort was stratified by a 10‐year risk threshold of ≥5.6% (i.e., 80th percentile from the SPLC‐RAT development cohort), the observed SPLC incidence was significantly elevated in the high‐risk versus low‐risk subgroup (13.1% vs. 1.1%, p < 1 × 10–6). The risk‐based surveillance through SPLC‐RAT (≥5.6% threshold) outperformed the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines with higher sensitivity (86.4% vs. 79.4%) and specificity (38.9% vs. 30.4%) and required 20% fewer computed tomography follow‐ups needed to detect one SPLC (162 vs. 202).ConclusionIn a large, hospital‐based cohort, the authors validated the predictive performance of SPLC‐RAT in identifying high‐risk survivors of SPLC and showed its potential to improve SPLC detection through risk‐based surveillance.Plain Language Summary Lung cancer survivors have a high risk of developing second primary lung cancer (SPLC). However, no evidence‐based guidelines for SPLC surveillance are available for lung cancer survivors. Recently, an SPLC risk‐prediction model was developed and validated using data from population‐based epidemiological cohorts and clinical trials, but real‐world validation has been lacking. Using a large, real‐world cohort of lung cancer survivors, we showed the high predictive accuracy and risk‐stratification ability of the SPLC risk‐prediction model. Furthermore, we demonstrated the potential to enhance efficiency in detecting SPLC using risk model‐based surveillance strategies compared to the existing consensus‐based clinical guidelines, including the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Abstract Introduction: Radiotherapy has long been examined in association with second malignancies, but the impact of radiotherapy for initial primary lung cancer (IPLC) on the risk of second primary lung cancer (SPLC) remains controversial. We evaluated associations between IPLC radiotherapy and the risks of SPLC and overall mortality among lung cancer survivors. Methods: We identified 689,785 patients diagnosed with IPLC in 1988-2013 from SEER. We applied cause-specific Cox (CSC) regression to evaluate association between IPLC radiotherapy and SPLC risk, adjusting for age at IPLC diagnosis, IPLC stage and histology, and prior history of cancer. To allow a latency period of exposure to IPLC radiotherapy on SPLC risk, we performed subgroup analyses restricted to patients who survived ≥5 and ≥10 years after IPLC diagnosis. Using Cox regression, we evaluated association between IPLC radiotherapy and overall mortality, adjusting for the same covariates used in the CSC analysis. Mediation analysis quantified the indirect effect of IPLC radiotherapy on overall mortality mediated through radiotherapy-driven SPLC diagnosis. Validation utilized data from 7,758 IPLC patients (496 SPLCs) at Mayo Clinic. Results: Of 689,785 IPLC patients, 18,818 (2.7%) developed SPLC in SEER. IPLC patients treated with radiotherapy had a reduced SPLC risk versus non-irradiated patients when evaluated at the time of initial diagnosis (cause-specific hazard ratio [csHR]=0.90, P&lt;1x10-6). However, the association between IPLC radiotherapy and SPLC risk was reversed when analyses were restricted to those who survived at least 5 years (csHR=1.08, P=0.01) and 10 years (csHR=1.16, P=0.009), thus long-term survivors treated with IPLC radiotherapy having a significantly increased risk of SPLC. Mayo Clinic data showed consistent results, with the effect of IPLC radiotherapy increasing from csHR of 2.41 (P&lt;1x10-6) to 3.38 (P=0.001) among 5-year and 10-year survivors, respectively. Similarly, compared to non-irradiated patients, those treated with IPLC radiotherapy showed a significantly increased risk of overall mortality among 10-year survivors (hazard ratio [HR]=1.46, P&lt;1x10-6 in SEER and HR=1.54, P=5.1X10-5 in Mayo Clinic). Mediation analysis showed that a substantial proportion of the total effect of IPLC radiotherapy on overall mortality—ranging from 32% to 59%—was due to radiotherapy-driven SPLC among 10-year survivors in SEER and Mayo Clinic. Conclusions: IPLC radiotherapy is associated with increased risks of SPLC and overall mortality, with its effects more pronounced among long-term survivors. Citation Format: Eunji Choi, Vicky T. Lam, Jacqueline A. Aredo, Ashok V. Kumar, Jason Wampfler, Julie T. Wu, David C. Christiani, Iona Cheng, Christopher I. Amos, Rayjean J. Hung, Leah M. Backhus, Joel W. Neal, Heather A. Wakelee, Ping Yang, Summer S. Han. Long term effect of radiotherapy on risk of second primary lung cancer and overall mortality among lung cancer patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 3445.

9135 Background: Bronchial carcinoid (BC) is often categorized into multifocal (MBC) or solitary (SBC). MBC, excluding tumorlet and diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia, is considered a relatively uncommon subgroup of BC, with much of the MBC literature stemming from case reports/small series. Our study analyzes MBC among a large cohort of 569 patients with BC and argues for change to the current clinical understanding of MBC. We suggest using the term bronchial neuroendocrine tumor (bNET) to more accurately represent its cells of origin and move away from “carcinoid” (historically meaning “carcinoma-like”) and the outdated associated connotation that carcinoids all have a similar, benign clinical and biological behavior. Methods: Using the Mayo Clinic Epidemiology and Genetics of Lung Cancer Database with Institutional Review Board approval, we retrospectively reviewed 569 patients with bNET (204 males, 365 females) presenting to Mayo Clinic Rochester between 1/1997-12/2012. We used univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses to evaluate factors affecting overall survival. Results: 80 patients (of 569, 14.1%) were diagnosed with multifocal (MbNET) and 489 with solitary (SbNET). Two-sided Fisher’s exact tests found that older age, female gender, never having smoked cigarettes, and tumorlets were associated with MbNET diagnosis. Family lung cancer history, histopathologic grading (pathology: typical vs. atypical), Ki67, and presence of syndromes (carcinoid, Cushing, and MEN1 syndromes) were similar between MbNET and SbNET groups. Most MbNET cases were stage III-IV at the time of diagnosis, while the majority of SbNET cases were stage I. 5-year OS (83%) and 5-year PFS (75%) of MbNET patients were higher than those of their SbNET counterparts (74% and 68%, respectively). Metastasis status was an independent prognostic factor of poor OS in SbNET (P<0.001) but not in MbNET (P=0.71)(Table). Conclusions: Clinical, radiologic, and histopathologic characteristics and prognostic factors differed between SbNET and MbNET. MbNET arose as a new entity often with advanced stage disease, but good prognosis, which does not follow the NSCLC TNM staging system as in the 2009 NCCN guidelines (used during this study) or the updated 2021 NCCN guidelines which continue to stage lung carcinoid similarly to NSCLC. It may be beneficial to consider multifocal lung carcinoid instead as multifocal bNET, a new clinical entity, warranting a novel staging approach that more accurately reflects prognosis.[Table: see text]